A/N: And chapter 25! The plan is put into effect a second time, but hopefully with another outcome than first time around.

Reviewers: Wow. Just... wow. Over 200 reviews? You guys... I'm completely in awe at your generosity and just don't know how to say properly say thank you for your fantastic support. :). IT means a lot to know that people have stayed with this story so far, with its ups and downs, and still enjoy it enough to take the time to tell me as much. Thank you for this!

dp - Thanks! :). The project worked fine, all in all the book came up to 313 pages. I'm quite proud of it. :). A little unnecessary information, sorry!

ALIMOO1971 - Really? I checked the info for Divide & Conquer and it said they used C-4... Of course, I don't remember much more than that, and I couldn't find the script, and I don't have the episode... but you could very well, and most probably are, be right. Still... I figure if you place the C-4 at convenient places, it might force a bigger explosion with chain reactions. Couldn't it?

sg1star - Thank you. I'm looking forward to it, too. ;).

JustHorsenAround010 - Yes, good luck, SG-1! ;). They'll need it.

Starr484 - Ditto!

SLITH - It's definitely dangerous, what they're about to attempt... I want to say so much more to answer your question, but I don't want to spoil it. ;).

LadyMo - Exactly how I'm seeing it. Both sides have their points, but they can only go with one side. And that side, now being the Colonel's, might lead to bigger and badder things. Then again, it could also lead to victory before Earth is endangered...

layhee - :D. Thank you!

I hope you find this chapter okay (well, I hope you find it better than okay, of course.) and that you'll want to stay tuned to figure out what will happen after... well, the thing that happens at the end. Oh, I can't keep talking or I'll spoil the whole thing. Go, read! Then, if you feel like it, I still love to hear your comments about this :).

Chapter 25: Mission Redux

July 23, 23:15.

"We need to talk."

Jack whirled around to see General O'Neill standing in the open doorway to the men's locker room. The General's posture was stiff and his dark eyes relentless. He wouldn't let Jack out of the room until they talked. Jack had a pretty good idea what O'Neill wanted with him anyway, and sighed in defeat.

The door slammed shut and the sound seemed to vibrate through the tension in the room, lingering behind between the two men. Jack slowly turned back to put on his vest, the final piece missing in his battle dress uniform.

"I don't understand it…"

Jack frowned and whipped his head back around to watch the General. O'Neill's eyes were still dark and angry, but his words had somehow cancelled all that out. If Jack didn't know better, he'd believe the General was defeated. In a way, too, he was.

"I don't understand how someone like you, like me, can be so stupid," O'Neill spat out the words, inflicting as much hate as possible into them.

Jack flinched briefly, but kept quiet.

"She died!" O'Neill continued and his words were louder this time. Jack managed to disguise his flinch this time but couldn't keep a blank mask on his face. Not anymore. Not at those words. He felt the fear he'd worked so hard to repress build back up towards the surface, where it would surely devour him entirely.

O'Neill seemed oblivious to this as he continued, "And you want to go and do the same mistake again!"

"That's enough!" Jack growled and met O'Neill's gaze without hesitation. The two men stared each other down, neither one backing from the fight. The same amount of distaste shone in each pair of eyes, but for two different reasons.

Jack finally managed to shake his head, and with it lose some of his anger. He forced himself to look away and tensely rubbed one hand through his short hair.

"It's a good plan," the Colonel argued.

"Like hell it is!"

"Look! ...look," Jack drew a deep breath to calm himself further. It didn't work, "it won't happen again. She won't die. Alright? We'll make sure it doesn't happen."

"Well, excuse me for not believing that!" O'Neill snorted. A frown scrunched up his face with wrinkles, wrinkles that were evidence of many past battles. "There's nothing you can say that can guarantee her safety, nothing!"

That was the final straw. "Don't you think I'm aware of that?!" Jack growled back. He turned to grab his cap and forcibly pressed it down on his head. The action was so fierce it burned his scalp, but Jack didn't care. The anger that pulsed through his veins was nothing compared to the horror that was also present in his mind, the horror that Samantha would succumb to a cruel fate at the hand of Ba'al. A fate that they could, very possibly, be walking straight into and be unable to prevent.

"Can't she at least stay behind?" O'Neill seemed to have calmed down fractionally, but his glare was just as intense as before. "For her sake?"

Jack felt his anger fade as he bowed his head to his chest. "No. She can't."

"Why not?" O'Neill was pleading now.

"She's still the greatest asset the SGC has. If something goes wrong out there, we're going to need her."

"In other words, she convinced you to let her come along?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Jack nodded nonetheless.

"Yes," he agreed. "She's afraid, too, you know. But she's willing to overlook that if it means our victory over Ba'al. I figure, if she can be that brave, then so can I."

Jack set his jaw in determination and looked up at his future self, seeing the defeat completely overpower the General. O'Neill opened and closed his mouth as if trying to find words to something he knew would be futile to express either way. He had lost the battle, and most surely the war.

"This is stupid," the General muttered at length.

Jack nodded. "It always is."

23:30.

Jack watched from a distance how Sam fiddled with the handle of her P-90 and then proceeded to check if the clasp was properly in place. She wasn't doing a very good job of disguising her fear, but the fact that she still tried to put on a show, had Jack's stomach churning and his heart fluttering with pride as her former CO. Then there was the insatiable affection he felt for her, something which had nothing to do with the military, an affection now worn by worry and anxiety.

Jack would do whatever it would take to make sure they both came back from this mission in one piece. Sam had once confessed to feeling somewhat left out at work because of no longer being a part of SG-1 and Jack was determined to not make her feel alienated with Daniel, Teal'c or himself, her family. He'd find a way to get them both back just so that she'd get a chance to properly find her place and grow into the part as new head of the scientists at the SGC. He would find a way.

"SG-1, are you ready?" George Hammond asked from up in the control room and Jack was pulled from his thoughts. He turned and nodded once to Hammond, who seemed to read enough into the Colonel's somber mood to not question him.

Jack turned back to Sam, General O'Neill and the remaining two members of SG-1. His eyes connected with a pair of clear, blue ones. Sam's eyes danced with determination, but he could still see the undercurrent of anxiety in them. He knew words wouldn't be enough to distract her or convince her everything would be fine in the end, so he tried instead to convey all his trust in this mission through one look. Whatever she read into what he reflected back to her, she seemed at least somewhat at ease as she managed a tight smile.

Jack turned to watch the active wormhole before him, took a deep breath in preparation and then stepped forward. "Let's do this."

Jack let General O'Neill take point first thing he did on the alien planet, and they all followed him through a thick, deep forest. Their feet rustled through fallen leaves on the ground and Jack knew it did little to help with any stealth he'd hoped for. Thankfully, the thick foliage kept them hidden from any enemy sight. Of course, there was the possibility that things were actually the other way around, but he doubted it. If there was, O'Neill would have encountered something in the woods the first time around. Still, he saw no reason to lower his guard at present time.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he could see the ha'tak in the dark night sky above the trees. Jack tightened his grip reflexively on his weapon, knowing that his instinct of this being too easy was warranted. He waited, with moderate patience, as Sam pulled out the transporter ring device from her pack and started fiddling with it. Teal'c pointed them over to the correct position under the ship and they stepped over as Sam managed to activate the transporter rings.

Jack looked up at the sound of the rings descending on them and shifted his stiff legs to a ready position. The blinding light surrounded them momentarily before it faded away and they were onboard the ship, the safety of the forest left behind.

Jack raised his P-90 up to the level of his eyes and saw Daniel do the same next to him. No one was around and Jack waved his arm for them to hurry along. O'Neill once more took point and led them down the corridors.

All of Jack's muscles were tensed and ready for action at any second. He knew to always expect trouble when Ba'al was involved and that son of a bitch had yet to disappoint him in that regard.

"Jack?" Daniel whispered from his position behind the Colonel. Jack turned his head fractionally towards him without speaking. Daniel quickly continued, seeing that he had the Colonel's attention, "I thought we were spreading out?"

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but O'Neill beat him to the punch, "We stay together for now. No need to attract attention to ourselves."

"Wait a minute," Jack argued, keeping his voice as low as possible. "That was the plan. Splitting up, I mean."

"Not yet," O'Neill argued shortly, but didn't elaborate further.

"I'm in command here," Jack hissed.

Ahead, O'Neill stopped abruptly. His back was still turned to the others, and his weapon raised, as he hissed, "You are testing faith here, Jack! It's not worth the risk."

Jack noticed Teal'c and Daniel exchanging a confused glance, but ignored them. 'Not worth the risk'. His eyes instead fell on the back of Carter's head where she stood ahead of him, frozen in place. He noted that her knuckles were slowly turning paler and paler from her tight grip on her gun and she seemed to be holding her breath.

Jack hated to admit it, but maybe he had to listen to his future self on this. At length, Jack nodded. "Let's continue, then."

O'Neill mirrored the nod, before setting off down the corridor again. Jack reached out a hand to brush against Sam's shoulder and she jumped into action, following the General ahead.

For the next ten minutes O'Neill led SG-1 and Carter through the ship silently. They stopped several times to plant smaller explosives on the way to their ultimate goal in the engine room.

"This appears too easy," Teal'c said once, when he peeked around a corner with his long, large staff weapon at the ready. They hadn't encountered anyone, not a single Jaffa guard, and it was beginning to feel eerily like they were onboard an alien ghost ship.

"Yeah…" Jack agreed and watched Daniel and Sam plant C-4 on a secluded spot on the wall.

"I fear, O'Neill," Teal'c continued, "that Ba'al might have suspected our plan and escaped."

"Doubtful," O'Neill growled from his position further ahead.

Jack ignored the older man. "Let's just keep this up until we know for sure. How much further until we reach the control room anyway?"

"Eh…" Daniel turned from the wall and helped Sam put on her backpack again. She smiled in thanks at him. "It should just be two left turns away now."

"Company," O'Neill breathed from ahead.

Jack whipped his head up, grabbed hold of Carter's vest reflexively and pulled them both back. The five of them ducked around a wall as the familiar sound of heavy, armoured feet hitting the ground echoed between the walls of the ship.

Jack felt Sam's hand cover his own where it still held on to her vest, unable to let go. He looked down at their hands before understanding sank in and he slowly removed his hand and put it back on his P-90. Jack stilled his breath as he prepared himself for what was about to come. He could hear the sound of his heartbeat in his ears pick up speed and the adrenaline rushed through his veins, prepared for the inevitable.

The Jaffa guards came closer and Jack nodded up to Teal'c. Along with the large man, Jack turned from their hiding place and fired his weapon. The patrol of guards was momentarily caught off guard as two of them fell dead to the ground from the bullets piercing their armour. The other guards recovered quickly and Jack felt the scorching heat of a blast fly past his right ear before Teal'c's staff weapon took down the last remaining two guards.

"That will definitely draw attention," O'Neill jerked his head in the direction of the dead Jaffa.

"Then why are we still hanging around here for?" Jack muttered and pushed away from the wall, using his back as leverage. "Two left turns you said?"

Daniel nodded quickly, his wide eyes stayed on the dead guards a second longer before he looked up at the Colonel. "Yes."

"You couldn't just have waited?!" O'Neill hissed and Jack's eyes flew up to the General. O'Neill's dark eyes were ablaze with a rage and fear Jack knew only too well. "You just had to jeopardize everything I worked for?"

"It's too late to do anything about it now anyway," Jack argued. "So get over it!"

"Eh, guys?" Daniel's confused voice broke through their disagreement and both of them turned to glare at him. The archaeologist didn't fully comprehend the full range of the two Jacks discussion and Jack knew his confusion was reasonable. Jack inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself, but knew it was in vain. He then turned his glare back to O'Neill, who seemed to be concentrating hard not to bite anybody's head off.

At length, O'Neill seemed to regain some control as he ordered a swift, "Come on!"

Then the General stomped ahead in the lead and Jack wondered if his reaction was because of anger over this mission or fear that history would repeat itself. Regardless, Jack was concerned this anger would blind the General from signs of upcoming danger; O'Neill didn't seem to be fully focused on getting out breathing, as much as being caught up in a constant frown.

Carter exchanged a glance with Jack, and he could see she was worried about the General, too. Her eyes looked at Jack questioningly. He nodded once and she set off after O'Neill, hurrying to reach his side once more.

The ship was silent around them and Jack's mind was at high alert. His and Teal'c's weapons should have alerted guards somewhere on this ship, but no one seemed to be reacting or running to engage them in battle. That was far too easy, even for Ba'al. Maybe the System Lord had changed his mind and wasn't planning the same surprise as last time around. Maybe Jack had moved them into an even more dangerous trap than O'Neill had been caught in.

What followed happened so quickly that Jack wasn't sure how he managed to catch it all. First thing that happened was that they heard sounds of heavy, armoured boots running towards from behind and Jack and Teal'c spun to prepare themselves for action.

At the same time they turned, Jack saw from the corner of his eyes, O'Neill slowed his movements abruptly at something he saw on the other side of the corner ahead. The man whipped around faster than was expected for someone his age, and dove towards Sam as a staff blast shot out in their direction. With wide eyes, Jack saw the two of them go down forcibly and remain motionless on the floor.

"SG-1," a familiar voice spoke out of sight, from around the corner of which the blast had just been fired. Jack knew immediately who it was; he didn't need to take a peek to see it with his own eyes. It was Ba'al, who had finally revealed his latest plan. As the sound heavy, armoured boots came louder and closer from the other direction, the voice floated once more around the corner where Jack and the others remained hidden. "Welcome."

TBC…